Forward One Step at a Time
by Hikari-Sagura
Summary: Kagome is heartbroken when she finds out Inuyasha is only using her as a Jewel detector, though she's known all along he doesn't love her. After leaving him and Kikyo behind can her friends heal her heart and what will come from her moving on?
1. Take a Bow

Ch 1 Take a Bow

Kagome sat there with her head in her hands. How long she'd been crying she didn't know, just that the pain wasn't gone yet. She had a feeling it wouldn't for quite some time to come. The scene played in her mind again, ripping another sob from her throat and a fresh scattering of tears from her now dark brown eyes.

_She'd been climbing out of the well when one of Kikyo's soul collectors had brushed past her, almost leading her on. She knew Inuyasha would be wherever this thing was going, because that's where Kikyo would be. She decided to let it go, as always, and walked on into the forest, hoping not to run into the lovers._

_She had walked a good fifteen peaceful minutes, even if it still hurt a bit she could deal with it if she couldn't see it. Unfortunately fifteen minutes was all she had before hell broke loose._

_She had just started crossing a small open area amongst the trees and had spotted them. Talking again, and this time he was cuddling her as well. Kikyo sat in his lap leaning back against his chest and his arms held her as if he never intended to let her go. That sent a stab of raw pain to her heart in a wound she'd thought had gone numb long ago. Still she walked on until she heard her name. They were talking about her!! Fearful of what she might hear she still hid and listened from behind a wide and ancient tree._

"_It's just until I get all the jewel shards! She'll go back to her own time after that, I promise. I'll even seal up the well behind her! After we have the jewel we can rid the world of it by wishing you alive again and we'll get our second chance, just you and me. Just have patience until then, my love. You are my heart, and she is only a jewel detector." Inuyasha told Kikyo reassuringly. Then he kissed her cold lips with intensity that he'd never offered Kagome._

"_I can put up with that. You are _**mine**_ Inuyasha, you have been since we met and will be forevever." Kikyo replied._

"_That's fine with me"! Kagome shouted angrily, stalking from behind the tree. "I should have suspected something like this from a heartless corpse. Though the necrophiliac's involvement is hardly a surprise because he has never loved me, I was hoping his friendship would at least allow me to return to the Feudal Era if I let you two stay together. I can see now even his friendship was a lie!" Kagome continued, enraged at the plotting behind her back._

"_Kagome I can explain!" Inuyasha interrupted. Then he made a mistake, he reached out and took one of her hands lovingly._

_The false gesture infuriated her more and she screamed "Don't you dare touch me!" The whip-crack echoed between the trees as Inuyasha let go of her hand and touched his cheek in shock. She had made him sit many times but not once had she ever slapped him. "SIT BOY!!" she snarled, jumping on his back as he hit the ground in pain. Her hands seemed to play at the back of his neck for a minute and he felt the beads sliding off. "Here, I give you his collar to do with as you please. He's your mutt now; I just hope you can take care of him as well as I have. Oh and by the way these are mine!" Kagome growled, ripping a cord holding a small vile of glittering shards from around Kikyo's neck. She had figured out Inuyasha had started stealing fragments one at a time, hoping Kagome wouldn't notice. She had planned to confront him upon returning to the Feudal Era._

"_Kagome! Come back!" Inuyasha called._

"_Go to hell and take your undead leech of a girlfriend with you!" she shouted back to him, racing away to sit beside the well. She had choices to make._

That was how she'd gotten here, but it didn't make her decision any easier. She longed to return to her ignorance and let things play out as they had, but she knew now that she could not. Her heart couldn't take much more before even the broken pieces would shatter to dust. The trees didn't help her or give her answers, neither did the presence of the Well, it just gave her more questions.

After hours of sobbing and thinking and sobbing more she finally made up her mind and headed towards

the village. It was heartwarming to see Kaide and Shippo, who asked if she was ok. Miroku and Sango however just looked and her face and then hugged her, making her burst into tears again and murmur apologies for soaking their robes.

"It's fine Kagome, that's what friends are for." Sango replied, giving her a sisterly kiss on the forehead.

"SO, where do we go from here?" Miroku asked, gesturing all directions with his staff.

"We…?" Kagome asked weakly. Surely they would want the protection of a powerful, if cold-hearted half-demon. What protection could she truly offer them?"

"Yes, a word that suggests you, Sango, and me, Shippo too if he isn't going to stay with Kiade, of course." Miroku added, smiling warmly. He might flirt with her and many other girls but his love for her was truly sisterly deep down.

"I don't know. We'll need to find someone else to help us. I have to admit having a stronger fighter has played a key role in our survival until now. I think I know just who to get. Kirara? KIRARA?!" Sango called out, unanswered save by the sounds of men working.

"She left a few minutes ago. She'll be back in a few hours, I'm sure of it." Shippo told Sango, it only took one look at Kagome's face to make his face become a tearful snarl of sorrow and hate. He jumped into Kagome's arms and offered apologies for what had happened and offered horrible comments about Inuyasha until Kagome smiled a little.

"Well, child, ye best be coming inside to eat. Ye will stay here for now until you find your path. Kikyo will not bother ye for she detests the living, even me, and Inuyasha would not dare set foot here without ye." Kaide assured her, leading her to the small hut she now to called home.

With the meal almost finished and Kagome in a slightly more chipper mood everything was fine until a snarling and enraged Kouga rushed in, the wind in his wake disturbing the entire room.

"Where is he?! Where is the mutt that hurt my woman?!" Kouga roared, searching the room with electric blue eyes that sparked with his fury.

"He isn't here and the truth is I don't care where he is or what he's doing. I'm glad to see you though, what brought you here?" Kagome asked, sounding tired. She couldn't handle Kouga's advances just yet, not with her pain still so fresh.

"I came because the slayer's companion sent me here. She growled about you being hurt and Inuyasha being the cause. What did that idiot mutt do this time?" Kouga growled dangerously.

"He spoke of plans with Kikyo where I could hear them. Apparently he was planning to trap me in my own time to ensure I didn't interfere with his plans for Kikyo after I gathered the jewel fragments like a good little miko." Kagome muttered, her voice was almost robotic in tone, numb from deep within.

"I don't think so. He might throw away the best thing that happened to him but he'll not keep you from returning, now or in the future. I'll see to it myself." Kouga replied, kneeling down to look into her usually warm amber eyes. "If you need anything of me ask it. I know you don't return my love and I'd never force you into pretending to, but I'm still here for you. I would protect you with my life and provide you with the moon if I could."

"That's a good answer to our problem ookami. We have need of one or more demon companions. The strength of a demon outweighs our own and helps in the battles to retrieve the jewel shards. Perhaps you could spare some of your own men to aid us." Miroku interjected, looking at Kouga with no mirth in his sapphire eyes.

"Done, I myself will escort you along with Ginta and Hakkaku. If we cannot protect you then I do not deserve to lead my pack." Kouga answered, bending on one knee and placing his left fist over his heart.

"I pledge to serve to guard you in your travels; while my heart still beats I will fight for your safety. Always." He intoned formally.

"You didn't have to do all of that, a simple I promise would have been ok. I know you'll keep your word." Kagome replied, smiling at the wolf-demon.

"This makes it so the Council of Elders cannot interfere. While they have ensured me that Ayame is mated now and will no longer search for me they would not approve of the wolf-demon tribe traveling with a human as bodyguards." Kouga countered, smiling softly at her. "If there is anything else, even just an ear to listen to you, a shoulder to weep on, or a pair of arms to make you feel safe, you need only just ask me." And with that he was gone to alert his tribe to the news.

"You shouldn't have asked him, Miroku. He's a leader and he needs to be with his people, as few as remain for him to care for." Kagome scolded softly.

"He would have had it no other way. Besides Gina and Hakkaku would have volunteered themselves and as far as I know that is all that is left of his tribe save the actual wolves." Miroku asserted, "He will probably bring those too, considering they want Naraku destroyed as badly as we do."

"It is ok Kagome. He'll be able to help us and it seems he's come to grip with you not wanting him the way he wants you. Allow him the kindness of helping you, he'd feel miserable if you rejected him as a friend and traveling companion as you did as a lover." Sango added, smiling understandingly.

"At least we don't have to wait too long. If we let Naraku's trail grow cold we'll never catch him." Shippo put in, his little fox tail jerking in agitation with Kagome's pain.

"We should sleep. Kouga and the others will be here tomorrow at dawn, knowing him, and we'll have a long day ahead from there." Kagome muttered, settling into her own pallet.

For long hours she lay awake, feeling as if something was missing in their little camp. She knew what it was. She was used to the safety of Inuyasha keeping guard at night and now there was no one.

"Kagome, can I curl up with you?" Shippo asked her, his face looming in her vision with gentle, worried eyes.

"Climb in Shippo." She replied, smiling at his child-like nature. For all the seriousness he carried he was still a child, especially at heart.

"Kagome?" Shippo started, wriggling a bit to be able to look into her eyes, "You aren't going to leave us now, are you?"

"Of course not Shippo. I will stay and guard the jewel, as the miko of this village if Kaide allows it. If not I'll stay with Sango and Miroku and help her rebuild her village. I wont abandon any of you, because you're my friends." Kagome whispered to him, humming a tune her mother had used to help her sleep. It wasn't long until Shippo drifted off, taking Kagome with him to dreamland.


	2. Better in Time

Ch 2 Better in Time

Kagome stirred slowly, she had the feeling someone was watching her. Looking around she didn't see anything until she spotted a tiny flash of blue in the corner opposite hers. She did a double take and panicked. Koga couldn't be here…it was dangerous for him to be here, Inuyasha might…oh wait…he wasn't there. He wouldn't be there ever again. She closed her eyes and rolled over, hoping Koga wouldn't notice the soft motions of her silent sobs or at least that he'd assume it was just her shivering.

Koga watched Kagome open her maple brown eyes and look around the room. She seemed to panic a bit at seeing him and then closed her eyes and rolled over. She was hiding from him, he knew she was awake by the ragged breathing he heard and the smell of her scent mingling with bitter salt water told him all he needed. She was still afraid to cry in front of him. He left it alone, ignoring the ripping pain in his heart that ordered him to comfort her. She wasn't ready to ask for his help yet, so he would wait as he always had. The bitter-salty scent began to fade and with she shuffled in her blankets, wiping her eyes. He sat back and awaited her to sit up and begin packing, not knowing his eyes still sparked a bit.

Kagome sat up and rolled up her pallet. She placed it in her backpack before turning to face Koga. His normally sweet smile countered by the deep sadness paired with a slightly hidden electric anger in his beautiful blue eyes.

"Good morning, Koga. I hope you slept last night. We'll need your strength today." She said, faking a smile and grabbing a clean uniform from her bag. "I'll be off to bathe before we leave."

"I will send Ginta to guard you." Koga replied, hoping she wouldn't argue, he couldn't be forceful with someone so fragile and he knew it.

"No thanks…I'll be safe enough this close to the village. I'll bring my bow and everything." She insisted, standing up and walking outside. She grabbed her bow and quiver from beside the doorway and left towards the river. The water was ice-cold, for once she welcomed it, envied it even. It didn't feel anything, love or hate or pain. It was cold, numb, and serene. She unfolded her clothes to reveal three clear bottles filled with different colored liquids. One held a shampoo made from herbs and oil from the hibiscus flowers in her mother's garden, a soft pinkish gel. The second held a conditioner with the same but included honey, a creamy pale coral-cream, as did the third bottle which was filled with an herbal body-wash, a vivid sunset-pink gel. She'd made these at home with herbs from both times, after feeling guilty about using the products from the future and the effect they might have on animals and yes, even demons.

She got half-way through washing her hair when she heard a rustling in the trees on the far bank behind her. Gasping she turned around, prepared to yell at some miscreant for spying and stopped at the sight of hair like silver silk. Even without looking at the ears she knew who had come.

"Go away. You've done quite enough. If you have come for the jewel shards they are in safer hands until I finish my bath so you have no reason to even approach me." Kagome told him, settling behind a rock to hide her state of undress.

"I didn't come for the jewel shards, stupid. I came to apologize to you and try to continue where we left off. I had to say something to her to keep her from hurting you and I need you to help me defeat Naraku. I know you know that there is nothing romantic for you in here," he started, placing a hand on his chest, "but I always was and still hope to be a friend of yours. I need you Kagome." Inuyasha pleaded, his eyes shone with a feverish light, so much depended on her agreeing to this.

"I can't continue with pretenses Inuyasha. You know Kikyo and I cannot remain in close proximity long before her soul returns to its rightful place. She can see the shards as well as I can and her miko-powers are stronger than mine. Plus her archery is more skilled. You don't need me for anything as far as I can see it and I don't need you for anything either. Go back to your owner; she will not be happy to know her pet has run away." Kagome sneered, turning her back on him.

She heard the splashes seconds before his clawed hand closed on her shoulder. "I was hoping to do this the easy way but now I see you mean to be difficult. You are coming with me and finding the shards, like you promised. I'll not let you escape to your own time and forget your responsibilities!" he growled, she screamed loudly and tried to grab hold of something to stop him from dragging her off.

"It seems to me, mutt-face, that you cannot take no for an answer. I can't abide people like you. Men should respect the answers when given if given for a good reason and any reason to avoid you seems like a good one in my opinion." A familiar voice growled. Inuyasha's hand left Kagome's shoulder and flashed to the hilt of Tetsaiga.

Kouga immediately had his Goraishi in hand, lighting crackled around it menacingly. "I would suggest you leave if you know what's good for you. A woman deserves the right to bathe in peace and to decide who her companions are. Kagome has a good idea who she feels safest traveling with."

"So you've come to her rescue again. Hopeless wolf, you insist on fighting the hound when you know you can't win." The dog-demon growled confidently.

"Arrogant dog, you are no hound, merely an ankle-nipping nuisance, besides even the hound loses to the wolf when his time comes. Choose your next move wisely." The ookami snarled back.

"You're only confident with the shards embedded in your body. You couldn't face me without them. Until next time then, I have important business to attend to." Inuyasha replied, his voice a scratchy growl from the frustration. If she thought she could abandon him and ruin his plans she would see otherwise, it would just take time. He rushed off to the west, leaving no trace but a slowly darkening bruise on Kagome's shoulder.

"I could kill him for even looking at you after what he did, but I know you wouldn't like that. I'll keep peaceful as long as he does. If he ever leaves a mark on you again though I will consider it a personal injury and will not hesitate." Kouga informed her quietly, turning his back to give her a small amount of privacy. "I will be waiting a short distance from here, far enough so as not to impede on your honor but close enough to hear you call out if you should need me." He added, walking off in the same direction as Inuyasha.

He could smell the bitter-salt of her tears again. He hated the way it tainted her natural scent, some mix of herbs and sweet flowers. It cut a little deeper this time to know that some of those would be his fault. He knew part of the way she smelled was due to the substances in the bottles she carried but he also knew that she would have smelled the same without them. That earthy-sweet floral and herb scent was just her, the smell of a forest in spring. It always made him feel at home, like he was in the only place he belonged, the only place that could ever be completely perfect and safe.

She cried for what felt like hours before finishing her bath and climbing out of the icy river. Drying off she noticed her clothes had been hung from a low branch of the nearest tree. Kouga had probably done that, to ensure no mud got on them. He was quite considerate, and she was glad for his company. She hoped dearly that it didn't come down to a duel between the inu-hanyou and the ookami, she still couldn't bear it. Even after the faithless dog had abandoned her she couldn't handle seeing him hurt, and the gentle wolf had shed more than enough blood on her behalf.

Shaking her head to clear the gloomy thoughts she concentrated on putting on a happy face. The group would be waiting for their optimistic miko and she wouldn't deny them the little she could offer.


End file.
